President Ferdinand Marcos Jr will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in the sidelines of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in San Francisco to lower the tension the West Philippine Sea.

Marcos made the announcement on Thursday following a meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris of the United States.

Marcos said he will get the view of Xi during the meeting and discuss on what can be done “to bring down the temperature, to not escalate the situation in the West Philippine Sea.”

“And we (with President Xi) will put all of these together so as we’ll be able to strategize for the near future on what the Philippines’ role will be or what is the proper Philippines’ role in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.

Philippine ships resupplying troops on a grounded Navy ship at Ayungin Shoal have been blocked or nearly hindered by Chinese Coast Guard vessels in the last few months. DMS